Livestock feeding systems frequently use endless belt conveyors to deliver feed to a feed area. In some installations the conveyor may extend several hundred feet through a stantion barn or other livestock feeding area and the conveyors are designed to selectively discharge feed from one side of the conveyor or the other. In a conveying system of this type, a large rotary brush rotates about a vertical axis while moving in a reciprocating path along the length of the moving conveyor to discharge feed from a side of the conveyor. By reversing rotation of the brush, the feed can be distributed to the opposite side of the conveyor. However, because the feed is brushed from the conveyor with substantial force, conveyors of this type require side baffles, spaced from the side edge of the conveyor, to prevent the feed from being thrown too far from the conveyor.
Other belt type conveyors have employed a feed diverter or plow which is disposed diagonally to the side edges of the conveyor and moves in a reciprocating path along the length of the moving conveyor. In certain installations the plow can be pivoted approximately 90.degree. to a second diagonal position to thereby discharge feed from the opposite side of the conveyor. However, due to irregularities in the belt and in the wiping edge of the plow, the fines in the feed, which include minerals, vitamins, and other additives are not completely removed from the belt, thereby resulting in the fines being carried to the end of the belt and not being uniformly mixed with the feed delivered to the livestock.